Pablo José Hernández Rivera, Puerto Rico's representative in Congress, called for an investigation into the halting of prosecution efforts related to an alleged scheme to buy prisoners' votes. This request came Tuesday after a ProPublica report detailed how a federal probe into a drugs-for-votes scheme in Puerto Rico prisons was stopped after the 2024 elections.
Hernández Rivera urged members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to join his push for a congressional probe. He stated that the ProPublica report detailed facts no elected official, in Puerto Rico or Washington, can ignore.
On the same day, Rep. Héctor Ferrer Santiago, a Popular Democratic Party member, introduced a resolution in the territory's House. It orders the Committee on Public Security to investigate the allegations. Ferrer Santiago called the claims "serious" and said the House has an "inescapable duty to investigate."
ProPublica's investigation described how prosecutors had uncovered a drugs-for-votes scheme run by a violent gang in Puerto Rican prisons. Prosecutors were deep into examining whether now-Gov. Jenniffer González-Colón or her campaign were involved.
Four sources with knowledge of the investigation told ProPublica that in the days following President Donald Trump's 2024 election, as prosecutors prepared the indictment, supervisors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico instructed them to exclude voting-related charges against inmates and prison staff. Once Trump took office, the sources said, they were told to abandon the probe into potential political ties entirely.
González-Colón, a Republican and member of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, has not responded to interview requests from ProPublica. In a Tuesday statement, she denied wrongdoing. She said she has "stood firmly against corruption" throughout her career and political campaigns. "I categorically reject any attempt to link me to unlawful conduct," she wrote.
González-Colón has not been charged with any crime. She told local news outlets Wednesday that no investigation is warranted. "There is nothing here," she said. "And, if they have research from the past four years, let them do it, let them bring it to a successful conclusion. But I have absolutely nothing to do with the things that are pointed out there, much less my campaign."
Leaders of the Puerto Rican Independence Party also called for an investigation on Wednesday. Sen. María de Lourdes Santiago, party vice president, stated on social media that questions of partisan intervention in prison spaces should not be ignored given their "severe implications."
Thomas Rivera Schatz, president of the Puerto Rico Senate and a member of González-Colón's party, initially told local news outlets that government officials in Puerto Rico should investigate thoroughly. But at a Thursday press conference, he retracted that assertion. He said of ProPublica's report: "I do not lend it any credibility whatsoever. It appears to follow a specific editorial line — one directed against the Republican Party and against Trump."
An indictment filed in December 2024, while Joe Biden was still president, charged 34 members of a gang known as Group 31 or Los Tiburones. The charges included drug distribution resulting in at least four overdose deaths, money laundering, and possessing a firearm. Prosecutors also alleged that the gang made connections with government officials "for the purpose of reducing prison sentences." The gang mandated both prisoners' political affiliations and "who to vote for in primary and general elections." The indictment, however, included no charges related to the drugs-for-votes scheme.
Sources familiar with the investigation said gang leaders forced inmates to vote for González-Colón or face brutal beatings and being cut off from drugs. Many inmates are addicted to illicit drugs.
People with knowledge of the investigation told ProPublica that prosecutors had evidence González-Colón spoke with one of the prison gang leaders on WhatsApp during the primary campaign. They were pursuing other potential ties when instructed to stop.
González-Colón stated she engaged with all sectors of society during her campaign. "That included meeting with families of incarcerated individuals concerned about rehabilitation and reintegration, because public policy must be inclusive and responsive to every community," she said. She did not directly address the allegation of talking with a gang leader.
W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, appointed by Trump in 2019, told ProPublica his office does not comment on open cases. While some defendants in the drug and money laundering cases have taken plea agreements, most cases are still pending. Lymarie Llovet-Ayala, spokesperson for the office, said in a Wednesday email, "Given the ongoing nature of the case and the importance of maintaining the integrity of active matters, it would not be appropriate for us to comment further in a press setting." She previously stated that charging corrupt public officials "has always been and remains a top priority" for the office.